F&Bs Bookshelves
 

A large number of bookshelves cover every space within Flourish & Blotts. Some sag under the weight of the books, but they hold strong thanks to a strengthening charm. Every subject that you can think of can be found within these shelves. The first floor holds books that further the knowledge, while the second floor holds books for more pleasurable reading. Small signs hang from the ceiling or hover around the top of the bookshelves, indicating which subjects can be found in each particular area. Feel free to browse and don't be afraid to let your imagination take you to great heights!

OOC: Since all good libraries and such have a cat, Elizabeth has brought her two kittens (Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer) with her to the bookshop. So always keep an eye underfoot for a flash of fur that may or may not be one or both playful kitties. And while they're technically NPCs, feel free to interact with them/play out their actions to your heart's content <3

Dani/Jessa
 

With his father going to the owl post office to send a letter to an sock employee of his, Dorian entered F&B with his shopping bag half full with early bought school supplies. His father had bought his school books the previous week so now he was here for some pleasurable reading.

He scratched the top of his head as he made his way upstairs, browsing the comic book shelf for one to read. He had a very specific taste which meant he had read most of those already. So finding a new one was like a quest. And he liked quests. Too bad there was no gold involved...

She was sure she wanted this book and equally sure it would alleviate some of the stir craziness that threatened to set in while she sat around the Manor on some days. She liked it there, of course she did, and liked the company but sometimes that company had work to do and couldn't simply indulge her with trips to far away places or walks through the garden. Most times, she could find someone not too tremendously busy and when she couldn't there was the option of having a friend or two over but on the days where things were just too tight around the Manor, Jessa was left to her own devices and without the option of magic, most experiments she could think up would prove impossible.

Books weren't a bad alternative though, not by any stretch of the imagination. On the contrary, sometimes there was nothing better than a good book by the pool side when the weather allowed. The problem was constantly finding new ones that could hold her interest.

This one was a winner. It was such a winner, in fact, that her nose was buried deep in it as she made her way around the bookshop...half paying attention to the shelves she was meant to be looking for her new texts on. It wasn't until she suddenly stumbling and subsequently clattered to the ground that the Fifth Year's mind was was returned to her current surroundings.

Ow.

"Merlin's beard..." What just happened....? How had she not noticed that stack on books on the ground just now--oh, Juniper. When did she get here?

Anyone want to start an RP up?
 

German, Japanese or oh maybe Portuguese. She pulled out those books of the pile. She knew that these were going to be some good choices. Not that she was going to be able to study all of these at once. At least she would have them and could pace herself over the summer and into the school year. Plus she had the rest of her pile of books to look thought for other things.

Of course she opened the Japanese book and she was gone. It honestly wasn’t until after the noise of books falling over and Jessa was on the ground in front of her. She got to her feet quickly. ”Oh my gosh. Jessa are you okay?” Offering her hand to her.

Was her books sticking out that much? Opps.

"Yeah....yeah I'm alright." Jessa replied, hesitantly taking her hand to help herself up. "Should've been paying better attention to where I was going." It wasn't the first she'd paid more attention to the contents on page than her surroundings and had suffered for it.

Speaking of, didn't she have a book just now? Blue eyes began scanning the floor around her. It was then that she noticed some of the titled in Juni's pile.

"I didn't know you were into languages. Comes in real handy when learning spells and the like. Valko's into this too." She commented casually, reaching down to pick up one of said books. "I wish I could have a bigger interest. Bet it'd have helped back when I was struggling through those non-verbals." It'd been a hell of a year and most of her experiments had suffered for it. Who knew, a deeper understanding of language might have cut that time in half.

But right, she was looking for her book, couldn't have fallen too far from her. "Why not sit by the fireplace? Much comfier there." Ah...there it was...

Syd
 

He had tried to convince his mum and dad to do the book shopping, but since he was doing all his other shopping Liam was also responsible for the books. Apparently. Parents are weird. But here he was, list of supplies in hand, grumbling under his breath about why he needed so many books every year. It wasn't like fourth year was special. He wasn't even studying for OWLs yet.

Regardless, the books were required. He loaded them up in his arms having casually forgotten a basket, and even though he'd had a nice growth spurt recently the books were still almost too much. In the way that they towered in his arms and impaired his vision.

"'scuse me, sorry, I can't see," Liam announced loudly when he saw a vague body shape in front of him. It was probably a student. He might be able to dodge them. He could make a game of it.

He was halfway through his third attempt at reading the first page of a book he had not paid for when the voice interrupted him. Or a set of arms holding a pile of books. There was no face attached, nor a torso, and it was difficult to take requests to get out of the way--basically--in any sort of serious way when he couldn't look at the person in the face. He closed the book he held and shoved it under his armpit.

"That's not my problem," He said, casually, but bent down to pick up the basket he'd needlessly grabbed on his way in; he held it out for the boy--it sounded like one, anyway--, then realized there was a barricade of texts covering his line of vision. Ian blinked, once, holding out the basket in question for a second longer. "Right, you're blind right now. I'm offering you my shopping basket. It might save your life. OR mine."

Not his problem? It very well could be, and Liam was just being polite and warning people before he trampled them. Or caused a scene in a quiet bookstore.

Liam considered that for half a second. "Probably yours. I fall well." The problem was that he could still not see in front of him so he wasn't sure what to do about the basket. He paused for only a moment before leaning his head to the side as much as he could, just able to see the edge of basket in question. "Hold that, yeah?" It would be greatly appreciated.

And... Liam dumped his books in the basket. Quite gracelessly.

Ian made a very displeased noise at the supposedly smart comment and rolled his dark eyes for its benefit, too, not that it mattered. The boy in question couldn’t exactly see him, which made the effort it took quite pointless indeed. A fact that would have irritated him had the boy not given explicit instructions that, well, just like instructions in general, Ian didn’t necessarily took to heart, at least not initially.

“What? I’m not doing that.” Though he did held on to the basket with both hands, with barely enough time to let the book safely tucked under his armpit hit the floor. The avalanche of books plummeted into the basket and a string of colorful French words slipped out. With his skinny arms, he did his very best to try to keep the basket with the added weight of the books from clattering down to the ground, and he grunted.

The keyword was trying, here, and because he tried he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be welcoming any critiques.

He lurched downwards along with the basket and the books and very nearly fell down face first into the basket himself, which would’ve been an interesting addition to the boy’s items, one that would’ve maybe made the cashier take a pause, but. Anyway. As he straightened, Ian nearly slipped and held on to the shelf next to him for support. It shook—or trembled?—and he looked up at it, startled and taking a step sideways, away from it.

”This place is going to kill me, I should’ve never come here.”

Well... that was... unfortunate.

Liam reached out to help as soon as his hands were free but - well, at least the boy didn't actually fall. There was the issue with the bookshelf, though, and Liam took a step away from it just in case. It was safe, though. It all worked out. See?

... except maybe not.

"You're new here?" The language other than English probably should have clued him into that, but he'd been a bit distracted and didn't understand what had been said (which was probably a good thing considering the situation). "Are you going to Hogwarts?" Because Liam had a knack for focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Levi had to get his sixth year school books, but he figured he could get an extra book or two for himself for enjoyment too. In fact, maybe that's what he'd do first. He could get school books anytime. He had all summer yet.

The Ravenclaw sauntered through the aisles, his eyes falling along the shelves as he looked for something remotely interesting. He was a fan of the classics, though he had read many and didn't have anything in particular in mind. But he slowed near one section that he thought might have what he needed and he noticed a girl about his age standing in his way and probably looking for a book herself. Which would make obvious sense considering they were in a bookstore.

Glancing down at her books, he raised an eyebrow at one of the titles he saw. "Arithmancy? That's a tough one," he mentioned before turning his eyes back to the shelves. Nothing exciting yet.

Crushed by a mountain of books would be a memorable way to go, at least. But Ian had little interest on going anywhere outside of his present plane of existence. Warily, Ian cut a glance at the shelf. It didn't seem to be moving anymore, but there was something to be said about symmetry and how the barest of movements could have disturbed the whole thing. He took a further step away from it, rolling his shoulders, and looked back at the boy.

"Huh?" He'd heard words, and it took a moment for the meaning to register. He was perfectly fluent in English (and others; such were the privileges of Beauxbatons educated children), but it was true that his brain was, for the most part, wired in French. Especially when at least half of his attention was devoted to cutting glances at the shelf. "Oh." Ian sharpened himself back into focus, frowning for a moment. He rolled his other shoulder. "In a matter of speaking." Well, no, there was no way to get out of his 'BRAND NEW!!!' status. He might as well have one of those muggle billboard attached to his back, at this point. "Yeah. I mean, yeah, I am. New. Or will be. In... less than two months." Though he'd known his faith for nearly half a year, it was impossible for the impossibility of leaving Beaxbatons to not bring a frown to his face. "Anyway, hey. I'm Ian."

Jess <3
 

No one would be surprised to find former Hogwarts librarian, Angela Kohan, wandering through the bookshelves of Flourish and Blotts. This was her happy place, after all. Unfortunately, she had not visited in a while due to health issues, but now that she was well again, she was looking for a new book or two to add to her extensive collection.

Walking slowly, the fingertips of one hand skimming the spines of the books, Angela smiled gently. It reminded her of Hogwarts and she felt a pang of longing for her time at the school. She missed the students. They were always so eager to learn and to help out in the library. Well...most of them anyway. There were always one or two students each term who were a bit more...rambunctious, so to speak.

#nostalgia
 

Honestly, Dominic had come a LONG way since his book-throwing days of fourth year. He'd gone on to achieve successful examination scores for subjects he hadn't looked at since. And yet now, with the kids turning eleven in October, the former Hufflepuff found himself in Diagon Alley with the boy (of course), but not necessarily for school supply shopping. They had another full year to go, after all, before he would be taking them to the Hogwarts Express.

It was at the request of Ethan that Dominic was even in here anyway. Apparently the kid was way more ambitious than he was and despite the fact that Dominic tried to tell him everything to know about Hogwarts - which held vastly different professors from when he was there over twenty years ago - Ethan was determined to read Hogwarts, A History, along with any other basic books he can comprehend with his ten year old mind.

That was when he saw her; it was a face, though aged (of course), that he would never forget. She had, after all, given him his first and only detention. But could it be? No, it was impossible... wasn't it? He hadn't seen her since he graduated in 2070. He hadn't had any contact with her, nor had he really wanted to. Unlike Shackleton and Truebridge, whom he'd have liked contact with, but didn't have.

Instead of inquiring who it was, the tall man in his early forties, just stared.

Kye was browsing for her new Charms book, when she heard a voice near her. At first, she didn't realize that the owner of this voice was speaking to her, but when she turned towards him, he was looking at her little stack.

"Oh, yea probably. I wasn't sure I wanted to take it to be honest. Ah, there you are Goshawk!"

She had spotted Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 and took it off the shelf. As she did every year, she immediately opened to the index and scanned the page to see what she would be learning this year. She closed the book soon after though, as she remembered she had just been invited into a conversation. Wow, good job.

Looking again at the boy she asked, "What are you taking?" She wasn't actually sure if he was her year or not, but she hadn't spent much time observing those around her at school. They could be in the same house and she probably wouldn't know.

His only detention? Whoops :P
 

Ah, this book looked interesting. Carefully selecting Magical Potions, Angela paged through it slowly, but soon stopped her perusal when she sensed the stare of another. Good to know her spidey sense was still intact after all these years. She glanced to her right. No. Nothing. Then to her left. Ah. There stood a man with a small boy. She lowered her eyes, not wanting to appear to stare but she had seen enough. He certainly looked familiar.

She looked up again, taking a little longer to study the man. Could that be who she thought it was? She took a step closer. "Dominic?" She queried cautiously. It certainly looked like him, albeit an older (and hopefully more mature) version of him.

Jessa nodded along as Juni spoke, taking the time to check that no rips or tears or smudges or other forms of damage had appeared on the book with the fall. Looking good so far. "Are you currently working on a new language?" The Ravenclaw might have asked how she found the time but with everything she herself had going, Jessa knew all too well how manageable juggling interests with school work could be.

"Which is your favourite so far? Culture wise, I mean." As far as research went, culture wasn't that high on Jessa's list but it didn't mean she didn't like hearing about other people's interests in them.

She spared a glance toward the fireplace nearby and its seats. Pretty slow day in the bookshop by the looks of it. Good. She liked the feeling of having the place nearly all to herself. The tranquility was worth noting.

Jessa waited for her to be done gathering her books before moving over to the comfy chairs. "Will you try out for the play again?" It'd seemed like a fun idea at the time, but now that she'd seen all the work it took and how much time it took from literally everything else--not to mention Professor Myer's inability to work well and treat people nicely under pressure--Jessa would need to do some serious considering before trying again.

Chloe shadowed her older brother, picking up the books that she needed from her own list and slipping them into his bag when she was tired of carrying them. Ostensibly, she was giving him space to be a big grown up boy person, but in reality, she missed him already and was mourning the loss of Charlotte at school and wanted to be with him. Every. Second.

The only book she refused to put in his bag was The Monster Book of Monsters, which had already bit her twice, in spite of her wrapping it in ribbons. She loved this book and she'd named it Filbert and she wondered if she could feed it worms. Or maybe chicken nuggets.

Herbology book. Check. She dropped it into Cal's bag. "That one looks boring, Callie."

His hand smoothing over the cover of Muggle Space Exploration, he actually smiled at it as he went to slide it into his bag-- just at the same moment Chloe put her book in and INSULTED his book.

"You're boring," he teased in an overplayed baby-talk manner, grinning and nudging her arm with his elbow. "It's about SPACE, Chlo, it can't possibly be boring. You agree with me, too, I know..."

He was set to add more to the thought when his eyes fell upon the book she did not deposit into his bag. He laughed. "Ha! Good luck with that one. Someone in my year had to get stitched up after it sunk its teeth into 'em too deep. Left a nice gash. Bet they got a cool scar out of it, though, I'd imagine." He didn't see. Because it hadn't really happened.

What were big brothers for, if not to give their little sisters a hard time?